Perspectives on where our world is heading from a vantage point in Denver, Colorado.

27 July 2005

Bayonets.

All militaries are accused of preparing to fight the last war. Occassionally, however, the military tries to fight wars from a long, long time ago.

Right now, the United States military is coming up with specifications for its next generation assault rifle that will replace the ubiquitous M-16 and its smaller cousin the M-4 Carbine. While it was it was it at, the military decided to throw in a new light machine gun (LMG) as well. The military has Q and A sessions with its contractors about its requirements so that everyone can stay on the same page. One of those questions, and the Defense Department answer in italics, caught my attention (thanks to Murdoc Online for the heads up):

>>Please explain why it is necessary for the LMG to mount a bayonet.

It is a requirement of the family that all variants except the Special Compact mount a bayonet.

For those of you who aren't military geeks, a bayonet is a spear point that you stick at the end of a gun barrel which is supposed to be used for hand to hand combat when your gun doesn't work anymore.

I guess that the widespread distrust the troops have for the standard issue sidearms that are supposed to serve as a backup weapon for soldiers when a machine gun or assault rifle is no longer available, have reached new lows.